The keyboard most commonly used today is called the QWERTY keyboard. This name is chosen in recognition of the characters which comprise the first six alphabetic characters on the left end of the second from the top row of characters on the keyboard.
The QWERTY keyboard was developed in 1867 by Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule for the first known practical typewriter. The layout was patented by Christopher Sholes in 1878. Because of the mechanical complexity of that early typewriter, the keyboard was specifically arranged to prevent fast typing, which would jam the machine.
Although this awkward arrangement still persists as the norm, several studies on alternative keyboards have been made. August Dvorak, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,040,248, granted in 1936, disclosed an alternative arrangement for the characters used on the QWERTY keyboard, but kept the same physical key organization. After numerous tests, it was determined that the average horizontal distance traveled by a typist's fingers using the Dvorak keyboard was substantially reduced and that the typing workload was more evenly distributed among the typist's fingers. As a consequence of these discoveries, the Dvorak keyboard has now been adopted as a standard alternative keyboard, ANSI X4.22-1983.
Another alternative keyboard, called the Maltron keyboard, was patented by Lillian Malt in 1981 in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,659. The Maltron keyboard involves not only a new arrangement of the letters but also a new physical arrangement of the keys. This keyboard promises to even further reduce the horizontal travel of a typist's fingers.
Still another type of keyboard which has been evolving recently is a keyboard which uses combinations of keys to type characters. Since it is possible to create 31 different combinations using 5 fingers, one can consequently type all 26 letters of the alphabet together with five punctuation marks without any horizontal movement of the hand.
Two previous efforts aimed at one-handed keyboards are known. The Writehander.TM., developed and marketed by the NewO Company of Palo Alto, Calif. in the late 1970's, consisted of a hemispherically-shaped dome with twelve keys arranged around it. While reducing finger and hand movement, some persons have found the device very awkward to use.
A second device, called the Microwriter.TM., is currently being offered by the Microwriter Co., 17 East 71st Street, New York, NY 10021. The Microwriter has six keys arranged on a small surface shaped to comfortably support a hand. The key combination used for each letter is intended to resemble the physical appearance of the letter in order to be more easily remembered.
Heretofore, the great potential for one-handed keyboards had not been realized. Prior known one-handed keyboards have been at a disadvantage in three ways. First, they have failed to achieve the increased typing speed inherently possible as a result of reduced horizontal hand movement. Second, they are generally not usable to both left and right handed people and last, they have not incorporated the graphic "mouse" which is widely used for interactive work with computing equipment.